Memphis trending for Jalen Duren and Emoni Bates

It appears Penny Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers are on track to add two of the top high school players in the nation to their 2021-22 roster.

Per Rivals FutureCast projections, the Tigers are trending for 5-star prospects Jalen Duren and Emoni Bates.

Duren and Bates have long been considered the top two prospects for 2022, but Bates has reclassified to the class of 2021, while Duren is widely expected to do the same once he makes his decision Friday.

Memphis now holds all six FutureCast projections for Duren, including one from Travis Graf of Cats Illustrated, while 67% of the three FutureCast projections for Bates are in Memphis’ favor, with Graf again projecting the Tigers as the landing spot.

If Memphis is to land both players, they’d add on to an already loaded 2021-22 roster that includes 4-star prospects Sam Ayomide Onu and Jordan Nesbitt, as well as returning senior DeAndre Williams.

Duren’s final list consists of Kentucky, Miami, Memphis, the NBA G League and NBL, while Bates, who decommitted from Michigan State earlier this year, has a list of the NBA G League Overtime Elite, NBL, Oregon, Memphis, Michigan State, Baylor and Miami.